Thursday, May 31, 2012

A detective with Nottinghamshire Police has been jailed for raping a woman in her home.

Det Sgt Trevor Gray, 47, of Watnall, near Nottingham, was found guilty of attacking the 43-year-old in July 2011 while off duty.The jury took two hours to return its guilty verdict at Derby Crown Court on Wednesday.Gray, who had denied charges of rape, attempted rape and sexual assault, was jailed for eight years. The court heard Gray had attacked the woman after the pair had been out for drinks in Nottingham city centre the same night after meeting through mutual friends.The detective forced the security chain on the front door of the victim's house, made his way upstairs and attacked her as she slept while her child was asleep in a nearby room.He had claimed the sex was consensual.'Felt violated'Judge John Wait said: "These are grave offences. You forced an entry into a home where your victim and her child were entitled to feel safe."You took advantage of her intoxication to rape her. She felt - and was - violated in her own home."Gray was jailed for eight years for rape, six years for attempted rape and four for sexual assault, to run concurrently.Det Ch Insp Mick Windmill-Jones, from Nottinghamshire Police's professional standards directorate, said: "We expect our officers and staff to act with the very highest standards of behaviour, integrity and professionalism - on or off duty. "When they fail to display these qualities and commit a criminal offence, they can expect, like any other member of society, to be arrested, charged and prosecuted in a court of law."In this case Trevor Gray's actions go against everything the role of a police officer stands for, which is ultimately to protect innocent people and keep them safe."

As people still milled about and I waited to see exactly when an unpermitted march would begin, the Chicago police made what appeared to be a very targeted snatch and grab of a masked protester. According to reports, the police attempted to ask the man a few questions, he refused to answer and was immediately led ........read more

A shocking picture of the police blunders that caused a London teenager to spend nearly eight years wrongfully imprisoned for murder is revealed today for the first time.Sam Hallam, just 17 at the time of his arrest in 2004, was freed last Wednesday by the Court of Appeal after it heard fresh evidence which demolished every aspect of the prosecution case.In an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, Sam also revealed that the police officer in charge of his botched case, Mick Broster, was the same detective whose subsequent investigation into the mysterious death of ‘body in the bag’ MI6 agent Gareth Williams was strongly criticised by a coroner earlier this month.Scroll down to watch the moment Sam is freed

Justice at last: Sam Hallam is finally back home after spending eight years in jail for a crime he did not commit

Sam, now 24, said: ‘When I was first arrested, I assumed I’d be home in a day or two, because I had faith in the system, and they had no credible evidence. ‘Instead I went to prison and lost my youth, all because of the mistakes and errors made by the police and the courts. ‘They had the evidence all along that proved I wasn’t lying.

‘The Met must think Mick Broster is doing something right, because they promoted him, but he’s not. Although the Williams case was also really important, he just went on making mistakes. There seems to be a pattern here.’

‘I’m not surprised he botched the “body in the bag” spy case. He’s the one who stole eight years of my life for a murder I couldn’t have done.’Mr Broster, who was a detective chief inspector at the time of Sam’s arrest but subsequently promoted to superintendent, was heavily criticised in a three-year probe into Sam’s case.Because the prosecution finally gave in last week and dropped its opposition to his appeal, much of the fresh evidence unearthed in the investigation from the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) and Thames Valley Police was never disclosed in court.But the Mail on Sunday has obtained exclusive details of the case.

‘Chaotic' inquiries didn't follow leads

We CAN reveal:

Mr Broster and his deputy, Detective Inspector Chris Jones, did not follow national police guidelines on how to sift and record evidence. Their own case files suggest they did not read vital witness statements. Yet Mr Broster declined to be interviewed by Thames Valley Police, and failed to answer some written questions.

l According to the Thames Valley officer who led the new probe, the Met investigation was ‘chaotic’ and ‘uncontrolled’. Flimsy, unreliable evidence pointing to Sam was pursued, while other, apparently more credible suspects were eliminated, with no reason being recorded. One was a youth found with the possible murder weapon, who was later jailed for seven years for possessing a sub-machine gun and dealing crack and heroin.

Sam could have been released last year, but had to stay in prison because the Crown Prosecution Service repeatedly insisted it intended to contest his appeal – then changed its mind halfway through the hearing last week. Yet the CPS was given all the fresh evidence last July, while prosecution barrister David Hatton advised that the CPS might have to ‘reconsider its position’ many months ago.

Criticised: Broster, right, failed to follow guidelines in Sam Hallam's case and is the same detective whose subsequent investigation into the death of MI6 agent Gareth Williams, left, was criticised by the coroner

The delay had tragic consequences. It meant Sam was unable to visit his grandmother, Audrey, before she died of cancer in February. The Prison Service refused to let him attend her funeral.Sam’s other grandmother, Dolly Cohen, also died since his trial, and in 2010, his father Terry took his own life, aged 56, because ‘he just couldn’t take any more’. Sam’s mother, Wendy Cohen, said the suicide was direct result of the pressures of dealing with their son’s wrongful imprisonment.Sam turned down offers of payment from other newspapers to talk exclusively to The Mail on Sunday, the newspaper which has championed his cause. In his interview, Sam said he found the deaths of his father and grandmothers ‘too painful to discuss’.A slight, shy man, he became visibly emotional when the subject came up. ‘I’m only just starting to grieve,’ he said. ‘I’m finding it very difficult. When I was walking out of the court last week, I was dazed and terrified. I was hyperventilating, and I thought my legs were going to give way.’

Case built on flimsy evidence

Sam has always insisted he was nowhere near the fight between rival gangs on October 11, 2004, in Hoxton, East London, in which Essayas Kassahun, 20, a trainee chef, was hit on the head by a sharp object. He fell into a coma and died two days later.‘I knew some of the people on both sides, from school and just from living in the area,’ Sam said yesterday. ‘They weren’t friends, but it’s a close community: everyone knows who everyone is. But all the people who did know me said the same thing: that I wasn’t there.’ Presiding over last week’s appeal, Lady Justice Hallett pointed out that although the six other youths who stood trial for the attack all admitted they were present, only Sam ever said he was not involved at all.

Campaign: Sam Hallam's mother Wendy, right, has spent years fighting to see her son freed and even enlisted the support of actor Ray Winstone, left, whose nephew is a close friend of Sam's

There was no forensic or CCTV evidence that suggested he was lying. As for the identification evidence that did put him there, it was, the judge added, ‘flaky’, based at best on the ‘fleeting glimpses’ snatched by two witnesses, Phoebe Henville and Bilel Khelfa. ‘I only knew Phoebe by sight, but not to talk to,’ Sam said. ‘Bilel was at my school, but not in my year.’ He added that he was not even aware that the fight had happened for two days afterwards. But his nightmare began shortly after Kassahun died on October 13, when Henville, who was with her friend Sarah Beattie, pointed to Sam in a street around the corner from his home. He said: ‘A few minutes later I ran into them again, and one of them said to me, “Are you proud of yourself? He’s dead now.” I didn’t know what they were talking about.’Recalling these events, Sam broke down for a moment, holding his face in his hands. ‘I’m sorry’ he said. ‘I just hate going over it. I went over it all so many times when I was still inside. Now I wish I could start to forget it.’A rumour was going around the area that the first name of one of the murderers was Sam, and when they encountered Mr Hallam, Beattie told Henville that his name was Sam Hallam. Henville had already been interviewed by police once, making no mention of him. But now she made a new statement, claiming she had recognised him as one of the killers.

Back at home: Sam Hallam outside his house in Hoxton with his mother Wendy Cohen - he enjoyed pie and mash and watched Only Fools and Horses on his first night of freedom after being released on bail, saying his 'nightmare' was finally over

Khelfa, a close friend of Kassahun, had also been interviewed by detectives for hours.Despite being desperately keen to help find the attackers, he mentioned nothing about Sam, nor anyone who resembled him. But after talking to Henville, he too changed his story, claiming he had seen Sam standing over Kassahun with a baseball bat with a screw or nail protruding from its end. He claimed he only mentioned this now because although his friend was lying in a coma, previously he had not taken the police investigation seriously – something that Lady Justice Hallett found ‘incredible’.

‘Verdict was the worst day of my life’

Sam was arrested on October 20. But he had faith that he would soon be cleared, given that he had never been in trouble with the police. At the time, he was working for his father in his kitchen-fitting business: ‘We were so close. I was his little helper, his handyman,’ he says proudly.But although he was shocked to be charged and remanded in custody, he was sure the jury would find him not guilty – especially when Khelfa said in the witness box that Sam had not been at the fight at all, and even Henville admitted she was doubtful. ‘When Bilel retracted his statement and Phoebe said she wasn’t sure, I thought it was going to be thrown out,’ Sam said. ‘Everything was in my favour. I thought the case had collapsed. On the last day I packed all my stuff and took it to court because I thought I was going home.’But his faith was misplaced. A year after the murder, Sam and another man, Bullabeck Ringbiong, were convicted.

Decision: Sam Hallam leaves the back door of the Royal Courts of Justice- after the announcement in London, he said: 'I don't want anyone else ever to suffer what I've been through'

Jailed: Bullabeck Ringbiong, left, was convicted alongside Sam Hallam, right, in 2004 for the murder of Essayas Kassahun, 21, who was attacked and killed on Old Street, Central London, by a mob of youths

‘It was the worst day of my life,’ Sam said. ‘When they announced the verdict, it felt as if my life was over. I couldn’t stand up. Everything went blurry, and I was shaking. ‘And then my own lawyers told me I had no grounds of appeal. So I thought, “That’s it.” ’He was sent to Feltham Young Offenders Institution, a notoriously violent and insecure place in West London. ‘It was a tough environment,’ he said with a shudder. ‘Every day was awful. There may have been worse days and better days, but even the best days were terrible.’

‘From the start, this all smelled wrong’

Somehow, he managed to raise his hopes for his first, unsuccessful appeal in 2007, which was based on a legal argument that the evidence had been too weak to put before a jury. By then, he had been transferred to a prison in Aylesbury, and Wendy went to visit him the day after it was dismissed.‘It’s all been horrible, but that was the most horrible time of all,’ she said. ‘I still don’t know how he was holding himself together.’Paul May, a veteran campaigner against miscarriages of justice, was already advising the family. After the failed appeal, he helped to organise a campaign for Sam. He traced new witnesses who said he had not been at the fight, and in 2008, submitted an application to the CCRC. There it landed on the desk of investigator Glenn Mathieson. ‘From the start, the case smelled wrong,’ he said. ‘There was so little evidence.’

Family support: Mr Hallam outside the court, holding hands with an unknown friend. He sat in the public gallery with his mother Wendy Cohen, right, as the judges gave their reasons for their decision

He obtained the entire case file from the Met, and as he worked through it, spotted an opening: crucial documents, which the police and CPS had failed to disclose to the defence.

HOW THE BLUNDERING OFFICER IS A CONSULTANT ON THE SIDE

Superintendent Mike Broster has been touting for consultancy work, despite being heavily criticised over his handling of the Sam Hallam and Gareth Williams cases.The 49-year-old is using the high-level security clearance that allowed him to interview MI6 and GCHQ officers in the ‘body in the bag’ inquiry as a selling point to possible employers who view his profile on the LinkedIn website.He makes clear he is available for ‘consulting offers, job inquiries and business deals’, alongside his CV setting out his experience.On the site for professional contacts, Mr Broster boasts of his ‘proven track record in achievement at the highest level’ – even though the coroner in the Williams case and official investigators in the Sam Hallam case criticised him over the handling of evidence and witness statements.The detective is leaving the Metropolitan Police later this year, where he is currently serving with the counter-terrorism command. On his LinkedIn profile, he says: ‘I currently lead and direct a number of teams involved in counter-terrorism investigations and have led on a number of recent high-profile inquiries.He adds that he had ‘vast experience of working with partner agencies nationally and internationally [and] of homicide and serious crime investigations both within London and nationally, reactively and proactive’.At the inquest into the death of MI6 officer Gareth Williams, Westminster coroner Fiona Wilcox said Mr Broster’s failures had hampered the inquiry and questioned his impartiality, a charge he denied. After the investigation which led to the wrongful jailing of Sam Hallam, he was criticised for not following reasonable lines of enquiry and not being in control of all the evidence.A Met spokesman said Mr Broster’s website was a private matter and that police officers are allowed to perform secondary jobs with the permission of the Met Commissioner.

They revealed that although there was indeed a rumour that a Sam had been at the murder, the police had initially been given the name of a different Sam entirely. Mr Mathieson established not only that this person was real, he had close links with Ringbiong, the other man convicted of the murder. His discovery prompted the CCRC to ask Thames Valley to carry out a full investigation. The conclusions reached by its team, led by Detective Chief Inspector Steve Tolmie, were devastating.Yesterday Mr Tolmie, himself a seasoned murder squad chief told The Mail on Sunday. ‘The incident was chaotic, with a large number of young people, poor lighting, and poor quality CCTV. ‘The investigation required someone to take charge and ownership, and to give it a clear direction. That did not happen.’Police flouted evidence guidelines One reason was that Mr Broster was leading a further 14 major inquiries, most of them murders, at the same time – something Mr Tolmie described as ‘not acceptable for anyone’. He said: ‘In the early stages, a case like this should take up 100 per cent of your time: you can’t afford to be dealing with anything else. That should be taken into account by the bosses – they should ensure you clear your calendar for as long as it takes.’Mr Tolmie explained that long-standing national guidelines, which are drilled into detectives during their training and set out in thick manuals, are supposed to ensure the ‘quality control’ which was so conspicuously lacking in Sam’s case.

For example, every witness statement, interview or other inquiry document comes with a front ‘control sheet’, which the senior investigating officer and his deputy are meant to sign when they review the document. In the Hallam file, there are more than 800 such control sheets – not one of which was signed by Mr Broster or Mr Jones.

‘I suppose they could say they did check the documents but didn’t sign them,’ Mr Tolmie said. ‘But why would they do that? ‘This is the way you avoid errors. You simply have to be in control of the statements. The evidence suggests they weren’t.’They also broke the rule that requires a log to be kept of all the documents which might have to be disclosed to the defence. And after the first 48 hours, they failed to keep a ‘policy book,’ where they should have recorded all their decisions and the reasons why they took them.

Why was another suspect released?

One of the gaps in the record concerns a man called Tyrone Isaacs, who was arrested by the original inquiry. When interviewed, he made no comment.At his home, police found a broomstick with a nail in it and a mobile phone without a back, of the same type as one stolen during the fight from Louis Colley, who was attacked with Kassahun but not killed. A forensic lab found ‘a small dark hair’ and ‘debris that could include skin flakes’ around the nail on the broomstick. Unfortunately, by the time Thames Valley had it examined in 2009, it proved impossible to isolate a DNA sample, to see if this matched Kassahun.

Isaacs was released and the stick was returned to him, and the absence of a policy book meant no one could explain why this decision was taken. Just 14 months later, Isaacs was arrested and later convicted of possessing an Mac-10 submachine gun, two handguns and ammunition.

Celebrations: Freed Sam Hallam, 24, centre left, and his jubilant mother Wendy, left, are showed in Champagne after leaving the High Court

Similarly, the lack of records made it impossible to discover why the Met never examined Sam’s mobile phone. Had they done so, he would not have been convicted, because it contained photos that disproved the prosecution’s claim that he had concocted a false alibi. They claimed this was evidence of his guilt to corroborate the ‘flaky’ identifications.The Met claimed it could not ‘interrogate’ his phone because it was a new model, but as Lady Justice Hallett pointed out, all they needed to do was switch it on, press menu, and then go to photos. They also had Sam’s number, which meant they could have established whether he was at the fight using ‘cell site analysis’ – a technique they employed with regard to other suspects.

'Even in prison, no one doubted me'

Last Thursday, just before the court handed down its judgement, Sam encountered Mr Tolmie and shook his hand.‘It’s a moment I will always remember,’ Mr Tolmie said. ‘I’m used to investigating a crime in order to lock someone up. ‘The more I looked into this, the clearer it became that something wasn’t right. Justice has now been done.’For Sam, the only good thing about going to prison was that ‘I don’t think I met anyone there who ever doubted me. Even the guards came out and wished me luck when I left to go to the appeal.’ From the moment the CCRC and Thames Valley began to investigate, his hopes were renewed. ‘Just to have someone looking at it was very encouraging,’ he said. ‘When I first met them and Steve Tolmie, they told me they were only doing their jobs. But it was my life, my freedom, and I cannot thank them enough.’

'Hell': Sam Hallam, right, leaves court with his mother Wendy, left, after what she described as years of hell for the family

In July last year, the CCRC referred the case to the Court of Appeal. The Mail on Sunday’s Live magazine was given unprecedented access to the four-hour meeting which took that decision, and published an article in September.Even though the CPS were made aware of the new evidence at the time, they persisted in their intention to fight the appeal right until the last minute.Outside the court that released her son, Wendy said: ‘I knew this would happen, he should never have been in there. My family has gone through hell, it is like we were all being tortured. Finally free, Sam told The Mail on Sunday that he ‘doesn’t yet know how I’ve changed, and until I settle down, I’m not going to. And for now, I don’t have a clue what I’m going to do’. He added: ‘In prison, you know when dinner time is, when you’re going to bed, when you’re getting up. Now I have choices, and I don’t know what I’ll be doing in ten minutes, let alone tomorrow.’Back home, surrounded by his family and the five close friends who continued to visit him every month of his incarceration, he says he is ‘starting to feel better’. ‘I thought it was going to feel strange, sleeping in a proper bed,’ he said. ‘It didn’t. Last night I had a bath, for the first time in more than seven years. It was wonderful.’At the same time, he had missed so much. ‘When I was arrested, my little sister Daisy was eight. Now she’s a young woman, about to go to college. So much has changed.’ He added that he was determined to seek retribution from those who caused his ordeal. ‘The original police investigation was shockingly inept,’ his solicitor, Matt Foot, said yesterday. ‘The Mail on Sunday has now shown it was even worse than we imagined. We shall be exploring all the options to hold the police and those responsible to account for this dreadful miscarriage of justice.’A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the force had nothing to add to a statement issued on Thursday, in which it expressed ‘regret’ that Sam had been wrongly imprisoned. Commander Simon Foy, in charge of all Met homicide cases, said he was unable to make more detailed comments.

Related Stories

There are about 100 potentially unsafe convictions being investigated, according to a group that campaigns for people wrongly put behind bars.

Innocence Network UK has "serious doubts" over scores of convictions, said its founder Michael Naughton of the University of Bristol.

His comments come as Sam Hallam, 24, spends his first weekend of freedom after seven years in prison.

The Court of Appeal ruled this week that his conviction was "unsafe".

Mr Hallam was jailed in 2005 for a minimum of 12 years over the death of Essayas Kassahun, 21, in Clerkenwell, central London, in 2004.

After his release, he said: "I don't want anyone else ever to suffer what I've been through."Mr Hallam, who lost a conviction appeal in 2007, also thanked the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) and Thames Valley Police for the "thorough investigation" they carried out into his case.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Dr Naughton said that it was a "fantastic time" for Sam Hallam and his family. But he warned that it is not an isolated case.

“Start Quote

The system isn't about innocence and guilty in the way that ordinary people might think it is”

"I'm not saying that there are thousands and thousands of people in prison who shouldn't be there. There are certainly thousands of people in prison who say they shouldn't be there but that's a different matter.

"We have a hundred cases being worked on in our 26 Innocence projects and universities around the country.

"And those universities are serious universities - not just Bristol University but Cambridge, Exeter, Durham. There's a long list of universities working on these cases."

He criticised the CCRC for "factually guilty" people having their convictions overturned on technicalities.

"The system isn't about innocence and guilty in the way that ordinary people might think it is. And Sam Hallam overturned his case because there's non-disclosure in his case, so there's an abuse of process.

"In the cases we are working on, we have serious doubts about the evidence leading to their convictions, because of the research and the work that we've done."

But many of these cases won't be referred because they don't fulfil CCRC criteria about evidence available at the time of the original trial, he said.

"What we are calling for are reforms of the CCRC so that it can be better placed to assist people who apply to it who might be innocent."

Miscarriage of justice

Richard Foster, chairman of the CCRC, said: "The test that we apply, the test of safety, is a statutory test. It's not one that we made up ourselves.

"Safety is a test for all of us. If you or I is being prosecuted in court, then you want the processes to be fair as well as the outcome being the right one."

People can be guilty but still suffer a miscarriage of justice, Mr Foster said, pointing to the example of a woman who pleaded guilty to stealing a passport, money and trying to escape the country.

What on the outside may look like a clear case of guilt was not, he said, because she was trafficked to the UK, held in a house and forced into prostitution. She escaped and committed the crimes trying to flee the country.

Friday, May 18, 2012

The 52-year-old, who spent eight years behind bars before being found not guilty by an Old Bailey jury in 2008, will be one of five lead cases to be heard at the High Court this autumn, a judge ruled today.

They will test who is now entitled to payments in "miscarriage of justice" cases following a landmark decision by the Supreme Court in May last year.

The ruling meant that victims of such miscarriages would be able to claim compensation if the new evidence that cleared them would have meant they never could have been convicted in the first place.

It redefined what constitutes a "miscarriage of justice" and expanded it from the current rule that someone must be completely exonerated by a court.

The definition is important because only cleared convicts who are deemed to have suffered a miscarriage of justice are entitled to a pay-out. ...read more

Police officer reprimanded for tweeting he had arrested 'offenders' over beating of elderly great-grandmother in her bed

Great-grandmother Emma Winnall found unconscious and covered in blood

West Midlands Police apologise for PC Hanif Sanghar's tweets on the case

A police officer has been reprimanded after tweeting that he had ‘arrested the offenders’ over the attack of a 94-year-old woman in her bed.Great-grandmother Emma Winnall was found unconscious and covered in blood when carers came to check on her on Tuesday morning last week.

She had a fractured skull, a broken arm and wrist and a partially severed finger. The beating was so severe that the frail widow's palms were bruised from her attempts to protect herself, while blood had splattered on to the walls behind her bed.

Battered: Emma Winnall was assaulted as she slept at her home in Moseley, Birmingham, some time between 9pm on April 30 and 9am the next morning.

West Midlands Police said a woman, 56, and a man, 28, were arrested at their home in the Hall Green area of Birmingham just before 6.30am on suspicion of assault. They have been taken to a police station in the West Midlands.

But PC Sanghar, who uses the name PC0318HSANGHAR, then tweeted: ‘Folks. I am happy to now tell you that I was part of the team today who arrested the offenders who assaulted Emma Winnall.’

More...

An hour later he added: ‘Folks the arrest is brilliant but guilty by suspicion (as per law) so we still need help please from all of you.’

West Midlands Police last night apologised and said the tweets by PC Hanif Sanghar were 'wholly inappropriate'.

Chief Inspector Sally Seeley from West Midlands Police, said: ‘The man and woman arrested in connection with the attack on Emma Winnall are suspects. They are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.'Like most people, the officer who tweeted about his role in the double arrest, was shocked by the violent nature of the attack on Mrs Winnall and was keen to update people with the latest development in the case.

Mrs Blencoe and her brother John Winnall make their public appeal for information

‘It is clear that in doing this, he used terminology which was wholly inappropriate.‘The officer has been advised and the tweets removed. We apologise for any confusion or distress his comment caused.’

Mrs Winnall’s son John yesterday told how his mother would probably never return to her home.

Mr Winnall, from Birmingham, added: ‘My mum is not very well today but she was better last week.

‘I doubt she will go home now. She will probably go to a care home or something when she leaves hospital.

‘She was saying to me last week that she doesn't want to go home because she doesn't think she would be able to sleep. We are all just thankful she is safe and alive.'

Crimestoppers offered a £5000 cash reward in a move backed by West Midlands Police.

Mrs Winnall, who lives in Moseley, Birmingham, worked at the city’s small arms factory during the Second World War. She relies on a wheelchair to get around, and has lived alone since her husband Frank died in 2006, aged 91.

She has five children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, some of whom have been by her side in hospital since the assault.

Mrs Winnall's flat in Moseley, Birmingham, where she was brutally attacked as she slept

Dale Farm: why the media had to spike the police's scattergun

It's vital for independent journalism that broadcasters don't have to hand over footage, writes ITN chief executive John Hardie

Dale Farm: vital for the media to draw a line in the sand. Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian

Today we witnessed a landmark ruling on the distance that must be maintained between the state and the media. A high court judgment quashed a wide-ranging production order that sought to force ITN, the BBC, Sky, Hardcash Productions and freelance photographer Jason Parkinson to hand more than 100 hours of unbroadcast footage of the Dale Farm evictions to Essex police.

If we had lost this case then the bar would be so seriously lowered for any such future requests that TV cameras could effectively be seen as police surveillance equipment.

The ruling not only found deficiencies in the original decision but underscores the fundamental principle of press independence if we are to report safely and without fear or favour.

We are not agents of the state.

And we felt it was important to fight this case to draw a line in the sand that clearly separates – in the eyes of the law as well as in democratic principle – the roles of the police and newsgatherers.

We had vehemently contested the Dale Farm production order on the grounds that its speculative nature meant that there was no evidence that our footage would be of substantial benefit to the police's investigation and that the request contravened the right to freedom of expression as described in article 10 of the European convention on human rights.

After the disappointment of losing the case at Chelmsford crown court, we took our appeal to the high court by way of judicial review to argue that the orders to hand over footage should not have been made.

This result helps ensure that journalists and cameramen are not seen as an extension of law enforcement and protects the safety of our staff. In the words of Lord Justice Moses and Mr Justice Eady, who handed down today's high court ruling, "it is the neutrality of the press which affords them protection and augments their ability freely to obtain and disseminate visual recording of events".

The court application by police was a fishing trip to identify suspects in unbroadcast footage from the Dale Farm evictions. It was just the latest in a worrying trend to force disclosure of footage. This trend may be linked to the increase in public disorders and demonstrations in recent times. If so, then it is even more important to report such events fearlessly and impartially, lest we risk jeopardising the public's faith in independent journalism.

The Dale Farm order was a nadir because there was simply no evidence that we had any footage of specific value to Essex police. As today's ruling stated: "The speculative nature of this exercise is perhaps underlined by the scattergun approach towards identifying the material sought." Well, now it is time to put the scattergun down.

Yes, we will of course continue to listen to police requests that relate to specific acts of serious criminality – it would be irresponsible for us not to do so.

Media organisations should not consider themselves to be arbiters of the law.

But in our democracy the neutrality and objectivity of independent newsgatherers must be respected. There would have been outrage if we had been ordered to hand over footage of our reporting in Bahrain or Syria to authorities in those countries. We should not be expected to compromise our own position on these shores either.

There is no doubt that today's judgment has set an important precedent for any future police applications to commandeer footage.

What I hope to see come from this ruling is for the police and courts to now take an intense focus on evidence before applying and granting any orders.

It is one thing for the police to believe that a few seconds of our footage may assist an investigation into a specific incident of serious criminality.

It is completely different for them to deploy their scattergun and hope for the best.

Related Stories

The Metropolitan Police has implemented a system to extract mobile phone data from suspects held in custody.

The data includes call history, texts and contacts, and the BBC has learned that it will be retained regardless of whether any charges are brought.The technology is being used in 16 London boroughs, and could potentially be used by police across the UK.Campaign group Privacy International described the move as a "possible breach of human rights law".Until now, officers had to send mobiles off for forensic examination in order to gather and store data, a process which took several weeks.Under the new system, content will be extracted using purpose built terminals in police stations. It will allow officers to connect a suspect's mobile and produce a print out of data from the device, as well as saving digital records of the content.'Retained and handled'

“Start Quote

Mobile phones and other devices are increasingly being used in all levels of criminal activity”

End QuoteStephen KavanaghDeputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service

A Met Police spokesman told the BBC that when a suspect was released, "data received from the handsets is retained and handled in accordance with other data held by the MPS [Metropolitan Police Service]" - regardless of whether charges had been brought.

Guidelines given to officers state that data extraction can happen only if there is sufficient suspicion the mobile phone was used for criminal activity."Mobile phones and other devices are increasingly being used in all levels of criminal activity," said Stephen Kavanagh, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service. "When a suspect is arrested and found with a mobile phone that we suspect may have been used in crime, traditionally we submit it to our digital forensic laboratory for analysis. "Therefore, a solution located within the boroughs that enables trained officers to examine devices and gives immediate access to the data in that handset is welcomed."'Illegal'Over 300 London officers will be trained in using the "intuitive, fully-guided touchscreen desktop data acquisition tool", created by mobile forensic firm Radio Tactics.The cost of leasing the 16 terminals for 12 months and training the officers will be £50,000, the Met said.

Privacy International has warned against the possibility of such tech eventually be used on the streets

"It is illegal to indefinitely retain the DNA profiles of individuals after they are acquitted or released without charge, and the communications, photos and location data contained in most people's smartphones is at least as valuable and as personal as DNA."

Ms Draper added that while the Met's current plans were limited to fixed extraction terminals in stations, portable technology was readily available.

"Examining suspects' mobile phones after they are arrested is one thing, but if this technology was to be taken out onto the streets and used in stop-and-searches, that would be a significant and disturbing expansion of police powers."

Ian Puddick – the guy who last year took on the City of London Police, and won – will be addressing the 27th IAPH Annual Conference in Watford this weekend. Ian has been a friend of mine for a number of years, and has always stood out as a ‘born survivor’ (anyone can jump out of a helicopter, eat snake and sleep in a makeshift tent for three days!) to have the courage to stand up for what he believes in, in the face of huge adversity, Ian definitely has the ‘Thrive Factor’.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Part one of Ray Winstones Sam Hallam Documentary. Since 2004, 23 year old Londoner Sam Hallam has been serving life imprisonment for a murder he did not commit. The only evidence against him at his 2005 trial consisted of contradictory statements placing him at the murder scene. This evidence was riddled with inconsistencies and anomalies.This website outlines the case supporting Sam Hallam's innocence of the murder of Essayas Kassahun. Having considered the facts, we hope you'll agree that he is the victim of a serious miscarriage of justice

Hallam was jailed in 2005 for the murder of trainee chef Essayas Kassahun but has always protested his innocence

Family and friends, including the actor Ray Winstone, have campaigned to have Sam Hallam's case reopened. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian

Sam Hallam, who has served seven years for murder, is to be released from prison after the prosecution told the court it would not oppose his appeal.

In a dramatic moment at the court of appeal on Wednesday, 24-year-old Hallam was told that he would be released. Jailed in 2005 for the murder of Essayas Kassahun, he has always protested his innocence and his family and friends have campaigned fiercely for his release.

The Metropolitan police face criticism for their murder inquiry and were accused in court of failing to disclose evidence and to pursue lines of inquiry.

Supporters and Hallam's mother, Wendy, wept in court. Outside, scores of friends from north London repeated: "We just can't believe this."

Hallam – who was 17 at the time – was convicted in 2005 of murdering trainee chef Kassahun in Hoxton in October 2004. He was sentenced to life with the recommendation he serve 12 years.

Hallam was convicted on the basis of disputed identification by two witnesses who placed him at the scene of the killing. In his defence, Hallam claimed he was playing football with a friend at the time. He said he knew there was going to be trouble on the night of the killing and had wanted to avoid it.

On Wednesday, Henry Blaxhall QC, for Hallam, told the appeal court that new evidence showed Hallam was not at the murder scene and raised serious doubts about the reliability of the only evidence against him from two witnesses.

Blaxhall labelled the case a "serious miscarriage of justice" and said the combination of police failures to investigate and to disclose evidence, and the unreliability of the witness evidence had combined to put him wrongly in jail.

The appeal was brought after the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) instructed an outside force – Thames Valley – to review the original murder inquiry and pursue new lines of investigation.

Thames Valley police and the CCRC both criticised the original Met police inquiry in documents submitted to the appeal court.

Paul May, who ran the campaign for Hallam's family, said they had uncovered nine witnesses who said Hallam was not at the scene.

The main evidence against Hallam came from a young girl, Phoebe Henville, who changed her account several times. There was no forensic evidence to link Hallam to the scene and he was of previous good character.

David Hatton, QC for the prosecution, stood shortly after 2pm to announce the Crown would not be defending the appeal. "We have given this anxious consideration for a long time and during today and we are not in a position to oppose the appeal," he said.

Court of appeal judges are expected formally to quash the murder conviction at noon on Thursday.

Michael Broster, the police officer who led the original murder inquiry, was criticised by May outside court on Wednesday, and by the CCRC and Thames Valley police for his investigation in documents presented to the court.

Hallam's father committed suicide while his son was in prison. His uncle said: "It's disgusting. A young girl gave three different accounts of what happened; there was no DNA, nothing; and the police have based their case on that girl."

Kassahun, 21, had come to the aid of a friend, Louis Colley, who was being attacked on Old Street, in central London, by a mob of youths over a trivial perceived insult.

One of seven charged with the murder, Hallam initially, on the advice of his lawyer, declined to answer police questions, something his supporters claim may have counted against him at the trial.

Another man, Bullabeck Ringblong, was also convicted of the murder and is serving life. The trial judge recommended Hallam, who is in HMP Bullingdon, should serve a minimum of 12 years.

Among the supporters of Hallam outside court on Wednesday was Patrick Maguire, who was wrongly accused over the 1974 Guildford pub bombings. Hallam's other supporters include the actor Ray Winstone, but the campaign to free him has been driven by friends and members of the community in Hoxton. Penny Millard, a friend, said the community had united to campaign for Hallam.

"They all knew he was innocent. He wasn't there," she said. "Today is amazing. It should have happened sooner but the wheels of justice are slow. We can't believe this."

Police shot Peter Russell with several Taser stun rounds, before manhandling him to the living room floor

His arms and legs were tied together and he was carried outside ‘like a bag of potatoes’ in full view of horrified neighbours

Two months later Mr Russell is still receiving psychiatric treatment in hospital and his wife Diane, 50, remains traumatised

Alzheimer’s Society says the incident illustrates a lack of understanding in society of dementia

Police fired Tasers at a terrified Alzheimer’s sufferer in a troubling incident that reopens the debate on the controversial weapon.Six officers were called to take the unarmed 58-year-old man to hospital but he had no idea what was going on and lashed out at them.What happened next left his wife ‘heartbroken’ and his neighbours in tears.

Shocking: Police shot former farm worker Peter Russell with several Taser stun rounds, before manhandling him to the living room floor. He is pictured with his wife Diane at their wedding in September 2010

Police shot former farm worker Peter Russell with several Taser stun rounds, before manhandling him to the living room floor. His arms and legs were tied together and he was carried outside ‘like a bag of potatoes’ in full view of horrified neighbours.Mr Russell, described by his wife as a ‘loving’ family man ‘who wouldn’t hurt a fly,’ was then put into a police van and driven off.

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Two months later, Mr Russell is still receiving psychiatric treatment in hospital and his wife Diane, 50, remains traumatised. She has criticised the behaviour of doctors and police officers and has spoken out ‘to prevent other families suffering the same needless ordeal’. Mother-of-two Mrs Russell, of Epworth, North Lincolnshire, said: ‘There was no need to use the Tasers. ‘If he was a wife beater or an armed robber then I could understand it, but this is someone who will stop his tractor when ploughing a field and move a nest of mice to the side.’

Ordeal: Diane and Pete Russell are pictured together at a pub in Epsworth, North Lincolnshire. Two months after the incident, Mr Russell is still receiving psychiatric treatment in hospital and his wife remains traumatised

Traumatised: Diane Russell stands on the driveway outside her house where police officers laid her husband Pete, 58, after shooting him with a taser

Police chiefs have backed the officers’ actions, saying they faced ‘a significant level of violence’ from Mr Russell. But the incident raises issues about the understanding and appropriate treatment of people suffering from dementia.Mr Russell, who has a daughter from a previous marriage and married Diane in September 2010, began being forgetful about three years ago.

He went to hospital for a scan and Alzheimer’s disease was diagnosed.The farm worker was forced to retire and over recent months his condition became worse. Mrs Russell said he began ‘pushing’ her and doctors decided to section him under the Mental Health Act to review his treatment. On March 6, two nurses and a psychiatrist visited the couple’s home and Mr Russell became agitated at hearing talk of him going to hospital.Mrs Russell said he began swearing and ‘slamming cupboards’. She suggested he be given sweets and his favourite Noddy toy to calm him and then be driven to hospital by a neighbour.But this was rejected and the medical staff were told to go outside because they were upsetting Mr Russell.Several hours later, a doctor, hospital consultant and social worker arrived and discussed calling an ambulance. Mr Russell became agitated again. The doctors left and police arrived to handle the hospital transfer.Mrs Russell was told to go into the kitchen and it was then that her husband ‘lashed out’. She said ‘five or six’ officers went into the living room.

After he was tasered, a policewoman came into the kitchen crying and told Mrs Russell: ‘We didn’t want to do this, but we had no option.’ Mrs Russell said: ‘He was fighting them off because he didn’t want to go to hospital. He was petrified and scared. He was shouting “get off” as they carried him. I was going mental and I remember saying “it’s not him, it’s the Alzheimer’s”.

Defence: A police spokesman claimed that the officers were faced with a significant level of violence

Concern: The Alzheimer's Society said the incident, which happened in Epworth in North Lincolnshire, would have been very distressing for Mr Russell

‘He was not armed and wasn’t about to kill himself, they should not have tasered him.’ Neighbour Jez Taylor, 58, said: ‘The treatment he received was disgusting.’ Mrs Russell said she may lodge a formal complaint to police. Chief Superintendent David Hilditch, of Humberside Police, said: ‘The officers were faced with a significant level of violence. It is to their credit that they successfully restrained the man without injury to himself.’ Two police officers are believed to have suffered minor injuries in the incident.Sarah Moody from the Alzheimer’s Society said: ‘This unfortunate incident illustrates a lack of understanding in society of dementia and the best way to support and help people who are affected by this devastating condition.’